Alexa NG Baggio

Recently I learned that a friend of mine was leaving the world of finance to open a woodworking club in Philadelphia. Increasingly unoriginal, as I have heard this story at nauseam on multiple forums that cover entrepreneurship – “Banker leaves big checks for small shop” or “Ex-Investment Banker Pursues a Business Idea from His College Days” But regardless of the recent exodus from Corporate America, Mike’s career shift highlights a major trend in Small Businesses today – the business of hobbies.

I myself recently enrolled in a part-time graphic design course eager to learn the tools of the trade and get started spending my free time on something I love – making things look pretty. And I’m not alone (a trend my dear friend Mike has obviously picked up on). Creative courses are a multimillion dollar a year business. From writing classes to jewelry design, more and more people are spending their free time – and money – to learn new skills. Whether they learn these new skills with the intent of switching jobs or the intent of making money no one can be sure, but at the very least you can probably assume that it at least becomes a hobby.

Spaces that allow corporate and artistic folk alike to practice or learn a new craft are being flocked to. Primarily, I’m sure, with the intent to find a new stream of income and create new small businesses (which I obviously encourage). But overall, regardless of the end goal, people are searching for creative outlets. In a time where many headlines read as the ones above, we are constantly searching for new ways to identify. As we become increasingly disenchanted with the way of the work force more and more people are looking for “work” they identify with – aka. Hobbies - uncovering a wealth of small business opportunity in supporting and teaching hobbies, as demonstrated by Mike.

Furthermore, thanks to awesome sites like Etsy and Artfire, there is also potential small business opportunity the hobby itself. The small business that Mike runs may soon come to support the small furniture making business I run! Unfortunately, I don’t actually make furniture or even know how but I might want to learn since I could always cash in if the product is any good.

So, consider it. Do you have a hobby? Do other people also share your hobby? Perhaps there is a way to create a space, forum, or business around multiple people with the same part-time craft just as Mike plans to build a club around his network and interest in woodworking.

These days every corner you turn and every avenue you traverse is cluttered by the long lines and crazed fanatics of the Cupcake Craze: a nationwide small business fad taking the mouths and wallets of sweet-tooths across the country by storm. A fantastic display of small business creativity and momentum, this American sugar-high highlights some notable microtrends.

For starters, in the world of the everyday entrepreneur there is a market for specialized businesses and niche experiences. People are changing the way they want things. Previously, we wanted everything under one roof, one company that gave us everything, or one gym with every class and piece of equipment under the sun. Now, we want a one-stop-shop for as few as just one thing.

Take for example SoulCycle or FlyWheel, New York City’s boutique spinning gyms – where people pay a premium for a seat in one of their 45-minute heart-racing spin classes, with almost no variation! And then there’s Magnolias, Sprinkles, Sweet Revenge, Cupcake Café, Crumbs, Sugar Sweet Sunshine, Butch Bakery, and countless other cupcake kingdoms claiming to create the perfect cupcake for your craving- and that’s just in NYC! People have shifted their preference from an all in one convenience to a specialized experience that offers them the best of any one thing. Instead of frequenting the bakery to choose the confection that suits your mood from a selection of daily goods chosen by the baker (cupcakes perhaps), your sweets craving now sends you on a hunt for the very best cupcake available at a store designated solely for your cupcake eating experience. Singular perfection is king.

Second, to play on the words of Malcolm Gladwell, I can’t help but believe that the cupcake craze will create an “untipping point”, or better yet, a“drop off point”, where the saturation of these types of individual experiences begins to erode the landscape of the boutique experience, and the late comers will accept their participation ribbons and fall by the wayside. The true breadwinners will live on.

The length of the fad, or the average life of the main players in this space is much less certain. If one were to compare the likes of hoola hoop stores and bean bag chair dealers in the 70s perhaps they would be able to vaguely predict the overall health of the thriving cupcake industry, but the future is very uncertain. The influence of reality TV, social marketing, ecommerce and various other factors have changed the lifestyle of these fad-like business opportunities, perhaps strengthening or elongating their mark on the world. But one thing is for certain; this consumer mentality is a new horizon of opportunity. Be it spinning, cupcakes, or barre studios, specialty experiences are the future of everyday entrepreneurship, at least for a little while.